Angel

PUT UP OR SHUT UP: THE PROFESSOR TAKES THE PLUNGE

So. Here’s the thing.

My first comic-book work hits stores a week from today. SPIKE: OLD WOUNDS, written by me and drawn by the amazing Fernando Goni, and published by the good folks at IDW.

So you’re probably asking the same thing I was not long ago: how the hell did this happen? Good question. As I’ve said numerous times in the Mail Shoot over the last three years, I had pretty much lost interest in the notion of writing comics as of a few years ago, and was more than content simply reading comics, and, in this space, writing about comics.

However, last year, Poop-Shoot Bossman Ryall came to me in his new position as Kahuna-in-Chief at IDW with a proposition: they were starting up a new horror anthology magazine (which would eventually become DOOMED - issue #2 shipping in April, by the way), adapting short stories by some of the best horror writers around, and would I be interested in helping him out with an adaptation or two?

Suddenly, it was back, that little voice in the back of my head I remembered hearing all through my childhood, and that had kind of been quashed after the tragic loss of Marvel editor Mark Gruenwald, whom I’d been talking to for years about the prospects of a career in comics.

“You can do this.

It was hope.

Still, I wasn’t sure. So I told Ryall to assign me one to do, and I’d turn it in, and we’d see what happens. And in my head, I thought, if it’s no good, if it doesn’t work, he won’t offer me another one, and that’ll be it, but at least I’ll know I tried. So off I went, trying to adapt a short story by Richard Matheson, one of the great genre writers of our time and a personal favorite, down to a 15-page comic-book script. No pressure.

So I sat down to it, and the work came a little easier than I had expected, and I sent it off to Ryall, figuring, well, that was worth a shot, anyway. To my surprise, the Chief came back with another assignment. Cool, I thought, I must not have stunk up the place. So I did another Matheson story, and I was a little happier with this one than I was with the first.

Months go by, and in the intervening time, IDW acquires the license to produce comics based on the television series ANGEL, of which I had long been a fan. Throwing caution to the winds, I mentioned to Ryall that, if anything should ever open up on an ANGEL project, I had plenty of ideas for stories. Not long after that, I get a call from him, informing me that they’re doing a second SPIKE one-shot book, and the plan was to submit three or four pitches from different writers to FOX, and let them choose, and did I have any ideas?

Absolutely, I said. Give me a day or two and I’ll send you a pitch.

About a half an hour later, my pitch for SPIKE: OLD WOUNDS was in Ryall’s e-mailbox, and I was on pins and needles. Not long after came Ryall’s response. “Hey, this is pretty strong. Do you know how it ends?”

And in my head, my inner Mister Burns rubbed his leathery hands together and went “Eeeeeeexcellent.” You see, I had remembered what Mark Gruenwald had told me years ago about pitching a comics proposal. According to the Gru, the key to a proposal with a chance of selling is to come up with a story that doesn’t alter the status quo of the series you’re pitching for, but makes the reader look at the character in a slightly different light from that point forward. And, he said, make sure to leave your proposal unresolved, with a strong hook. If the editor asks for more, you’re on the right track.

So off went the proposal to FOX along with the other writers’ pitches, and after what seemed like an interminable wait (but was really quite swift in the scheme of things), the news came down: my proposal had gotten the nod, and the 48-page Spike one-shot was mine!

Then it hit me. Forty-eight pages. Now what am I supposed to do?

After the panic subsided, I sat down and sussed out just exactly how I was going to do this thing. Through a series of crude stick-men page breakdowns (which will never see the light of day, incidentally), I plotted out the story panel by panel and began scripting, and once again, the work went fairly smoothly, much to my surprise.

After another round of approvals from FOX, the script was off to the artist, and here’s where I got lucky, as my first work in comics is being illustrated by a fantastic young artist by the name of Fernando Goni. I’d seen his work on the first SPIKE one-shot, OLD TIMES, so I knew he was talented, but as the pages began coming back, I was amazed at what Goni was doing with my script. Everything I had asked for was there, but he’d strengthened some of the transitions and really tied things together smoothly. And as for his style, it’s a perfect fit for this kind of book, combining a slightly exaggerated approach to the action and storytelling with really strong likeness work. In fact, as the pages came in and I saw how well he’s able to draw David Boreanaz, I decided to make my next one-shot a Spike/Angel “buddy” adventure. “Next one-shot?” you ask? I’m coming to that...

Not long after the pages began to come back from Goni, I got another phone call from Ryall - “Got another SPIKE one-shot in you?” Yes, I do. Thankfully, Fernando Goni’s schedule was able to meet ours, so look for the return of Tipton and Goni on SPIKE: LOST AND FOUND, scheduled to hit comic shops in April. In addition, I’ve been asked to contribute to the upcoming ANGEL SPOTLIGHT miniseries (a 5-issue mini focusing on Angel’s various partners and sidekicks), so you can expect to see my Wesley Wyndam-Pryce story, “No Sacrifice,” (with art by Mike Norton, fresh from the Marvel series GRAVITY) sometime in the spring or early summer.

And after that? Who knows? Right now, I’m just focusing on the now, and right now, I’ve got a comic hitting the stands in a week. I’m pretty proud of it. I hope you’ll check it out.